When Apple released iOS 7 yesterday afternoon, many of us here in PCMag's New York labs rushed to download and install the new mobile operating system. A similar situation occurred more than 500 miles westat Ohio University, where students basically took down the Internet in their rush to upgrade.

While some users experienced slow download times and errors, early iOS 7 adoption already appears to be breaking records. According to new data from mobile ad network Chitika, iOS 7 was running on more than 18 percent of iOS devices in North America just 24 hours after it was publicly released. That beats iOS 6, which was installed on 14.8 percent of devices after its first day of availability.

"This level of adoption represents another proverbial feather in the cap of Apple, as it bests the impressive adoption rates of iOS 6 in the same time period last year," Chitika wrote.

Chitika examined a sample of about 300 million U.S. and Canadian impressions on its network from Sept. 18 to Sept. 19. The firm then compared the iOS 7 growth rate to total iOS Web usage.

Chitika's numbers are actually modest compared to those released by other companies. Data from mobile analytics firm Mixpanel indicated that iOS 7 has now made its way to nearly 38 percent of iOS devices. Similarly, app marketing company Fiksu said iOS 7 adoption has reached 27.7 percent.

The wide-ranging update is "the biggest change to iOS since the iPhone," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in June. It brings a new "flat" design, including refreshed app icons and folders, an improved control center that is available by swiping from the bottom of the screen, and a revamped multitasking bar, in addition to many other changes. Besides the obvious differences, Apple has also doubled the size of apps users can download while away from Wi-Fi to 100MB, as CNET noted.

About the Author

Angela has been a PCMag reporter since January 2012. Prior to joining the team, she worked as a reporter for SC Magazine, covering everything related to hackers and computer security. Angela has also written for The Northern Valley Suburbanite in New Jersey, The Dominion Post in West Virginia, and the Uniontown-Herald Standard in Pennsylvania. She ... See Full Bio

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